Advertising tower



Sept. 9, 1930. R. N. BAKER 1,775,267

ADVERTI S ING TOWER Filed Deo. 20, 1928 i cv.. i

HTToR/vax Patented Sept. 9, 1930 UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADVERTISINGTOWER Application led December 20, 1928. Serial No. 327,283.

This invention relates to advertising devices of the kind that are usedprincipally to attract the attention of persons traveling on highways,railroads and railways in rural districts or sparsely populatedlocalities.

One object of my invention is to provide a novel advertising device,which is of such design that it will attract the attention of a persontraveling towards the device long before said person is close enough t0the device to read the advertisement on same, thereby causing theobservers attention to be attracted and held for a suiiciently longperiod to produce a lasting impression of the advertisement carried bythe device.

Another object is to produce an illuminated advertisement carryingdevice which is of such construction or design that when observed atnight from a distance, it creates or produces the impression of abrightly illumin'ated object suspended in mid air above an illuminatedshaft of less hrilliancy.

Another object is to provide an advertising device that is ornamentaland efficient as a daylight advertising medium and also highly efficientand novel as a night advertising device.

Another object is to provide a device of the character previouslydescribed, that can be illuminated at a suiiiciently low cost to makeits use for advertising purposes in rural districts commerciallyfeasible. i

And still another object is to provide an advertising tower, which,inaddition to having the desirable characteristics or features abovedescribed, is practically indestructible and capable of being erectedquickly and at a comparatively low cost.

Figure 1 of the drawings is an elevational view of an advertising towerconstructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of said tower; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, illustrating theportion of the tower in proximity to the base of the dome.

Referring' tothe drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, A designates a tower that is vadapted to be used principallyto display an advertisement or a plurality of advertisements to thetraveling public, and which, in most instances, will be located along ahighway 0r in sufficiently close proximity to a railroad or navigableriver to permit it to be readily seen by persons who are in transit.Said tower may be of any preferred height, usually, however, from 30 toft. high, and it may be of any preferred cross-sectional shape, eithercircular, oval, rectangular, octagonal or hexagonal; it may be ofuniform diameter from its base to its upper end, or it may be taperedinwardly slightly from its base towards its upper end. At the upper endof the tower is a cap piece B, which may be of various shapes withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. Usually, the cap piece B willbe constructed in the form of a dome, preferably a pointed dome, and theouter surface of said dome will be painted or colored in such a way thatthe effect produced by the tower when it is illuminated, is that of abrilliantly illuminated object, preferably, a ball of fire, suspended inmid air above a vertically-disposed illuminated shaft of lessbrilliancy. Usually, the portion of the tower below the dome that isused to carry the advertisement or advertise- V ments, is painted whiteor some other suitable color that will produce a light background,andthe do-me is painted orange color, so that when beams of light areprojected onto the same, it will simulate a ball of fire.

At the base of the tower A are a plurality of flood lights l which areused to project beams of light onto the advertisement carrying portionof the tower and illuminate said portion sufficiently to permit theadvertising matter on same to be seen plainly from a considerabledistance. Lights 2 of the flood y also arranged in such relationshipwith theV light type or any other suitable kind,l are dome B that beamsor rays of light will be projected onto the dome in such a way as toilluminate the entire area of the dome. In order to produce an indirectlighting eect on the dome, the lights 2 are arranged inside of a memberC that surrounds the base of the dome, the lights 2 being spacedoutwardly some distance from the base of the dome and disposed upwardlyso that the beams or rays of light from` same will be projected upwardlyand inwardly onto the surface of the dome. By changing the color of thelights 2,l or changing the color of the outer surfacey ofthe dome B,various lighting effects cank be obtainechbut, as previously stated, l1pre-V fer to color the advertisementcarrying por-. tion and the dome ofthe tower and illuminate said portionsin such a way that when observedat night from a distance, the dome B will appear to consist of a balloffire suspended in mid air, thereby attracting and holding the attentionof an observer long before the observer is able to read or clearly seethe advertisement on the tower. l

While the` cross-sectional shape and longitudinalshape of the tower areimmaterial, so farV as'my broad idea isconcerned,fl prefer to constructthe tower inr theform of atube of circular shape in' cross section,which Y tapers slightly or at such an angle that the Y pose in ruraldistricts. 'ln order to prevent f dome and the advertisement carryingportionl beams lor rays of light projected upwardly from the iioodlights 1 will terminate at approximately the upper end oftheadvertisement carrying portion of the tower, there-` bymaking itpossible to illuminate the advertisement carrying portion throughout itsentire height, withL a few flood lights of sufficiently low candlepowerto make it prac ticable to use the tower for advertising pur- .,the raysfrom the flood lights l from being projected vided adjacent its upperendwith an outwardly flared part D that eectivelyv intercepts anyupwardly-projecting rays from the Lflood lights l which otherwisemightbe pro-k jected onto the dome B, the member C,y pre-vv viouslyreferred to, that conceals the lights 2 from view being of annularl formkor con-v structed in the form ofy a band thatis carried by theoutwardly liared part -Dyof the tower. `,ln order to producea sharp lineof demarcation between thedome B andthe advertisement carryingv portionofthe tower when the tower is illuminated, thus accentuating thesuspended iire ball effect produced by the dome, the outer surface'ofthe annular band C is painted black. if desired, a plurality of holes 3may be formed in the outwardly flared part l) of the tower, so as tosimulate windows ylocated .between the of the tower, andvertically-disposed passageonto the dome Bthe tower is pro-4 ways 3a maybe formed in the part D leading Vupwardly from the holes 3, as shown inFigure 3, so as to permit some of the light produced by the'dom'e lightsQy to pass downwardly through the passageways 3a, and thus produce theeect of lighted windows 8 beneath the band C.

An illuminated advertising tower of the construction above describedproduces a lasting impression of the advertising' matter which itcontains, due to the fact that a person approaching the tower andlocated a considerable distance away from the tower lirst sees whatappears to be a ball of lire sus vice serves as a beacon. Myimprovedtower c not onlyforms a novel and eliicient illuminated device for:night advertising, but it also forms a daylight advertising device whichisboth e'liicient and ornamental, due toits great height and the areaofsame that is available for advertising matter,'and to the appearanceof solidity, massiveness and symmetrywhich it presents to the travelingpublic. vWhile the main function of the tower f is that of anadvertising` medium. is also capable of being used as a gasoline fillingstat1on,-serv1ce station or restaurant, dueto the' fact that the baseportion of the tower consists of a shell that can be used to formtheside walls ofaroom or compartment of considerable size. When usedyfor this pur# pose doors orwindows may be mounted in theside wallof thebase portion of the tower, as represented by the reference character 4"in Figure 1. A f

llO

As previously stated,my .improved tower can be constructed in variousways and from various kinds of materials, ln order that it will bepractically indestructible and in order ciently low cost to make its usefor advertising purpose, commercially feasible, l preferr to build thetower in the form of a monolithic structure, all of whoseparts areintegrally connected together. Thus, as shownin Fig- `ure 3, the taperedcylindricalv shell thatY con-Y that it may beerected quickly and at asufii filling it with concrete or other suitable material of a similarnature.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: Y

l. An advertising device, consisting of a tower provided with a cappiece, the portion of the tower below said cap piece being adapted tocontain an advertisement, means for illuminating the cap piece and theadvertisement carrying portion of the tower, and a band provided with adark colored exterior for producing ay line of demarcation between saidcap piece and advertisement carrying portion.

2. An advertising device, consisting of a tower provided with a dome, .aportion of the tower below said dome being adapted to carry anadvertisement, means for illuminating said advertisement carryingportion, lights arranged at the base of said dome and disposed so thatthe rays therefrom will be projected upwardly onto the surface of saiddome, and a dark colored band located between the dome and advertisementcarrying portion.

3. An advert-ising device, consisting of a tower provided with a dome, aportion of the tower below said dome being adapted to carry anadvertisement, means for illuminating said advertisement carryingportion, lights arranged at the base of said dome and disposed so thatthe rays therefrom will be projected upwardly onto the surface of saiddome, and a means that tends to conceal the dome illuminating lightsfrom view and produce a line of demarcation between the Adome and theadvertisement carrying portion of the tower.

4. An advertising device, consisting of a tapered tower provided with adome, the portion of the tower below said dome being adapted to carry anadvertisement, flood lights at the base of the tower arranged so as toproject rays of light onto the advertisement carrying portion of thetower throughout substantially the entire height of said portion,separate and distinct lights arranged adjacent the base of the dome anddisposed so as to project rays of light upwardly over the surface of thedome, and means for producing a line of demarcation between said domeand advertisement carrying portion.

5. An advertising device, consisting of a tapered tower provided with adome, the portion of the tower below said dome being adapted to carry anadvertisement, flood lights at the base of the tower arranged so as toproject rays of light onto the advertisement carrying portion of thetower throughout substantially the ent-ire height of said portion,separate and distinct lights arranged adjacent the base of the dome anddisposed so as to project rays of light upwardly over the surface vofthe dome, an outwardly flared part intermediate the dome and theadvertisement `arranged above said outwardly flared part,

lights arranged so as to illuminate the body portion of the tower belowsaid outwardly flared part, lights arranged so as to illuminate theexterior ofthe dome, and a band arranged adjacent the base of the domeand surrounding the dome illuminating lights.

7. An advertising device, consisting of a tower adapted to carry anadvertisement and provided at its upper end with a cap piece, saidadvertisement carrying portion and cap piece being constructed in theform of an integral shell formed from concrete or the like, an outwardlyfiared part at the upper end of the advertisement carrying portion, aband carried by said outwardly flared part that surrounds the base ofthe cap piece, iiood lights arranged at the base of the tower anddisposed so as to project rays of light over the advertisement carryingportion of the tower throughout substantially the entire height of same,and lights arranged inside of said band and disposed so as to projectrays of light onto the cap piece.

8. An advertising device, consisting of a tapered tower provided at itsupper end with a dome, the portion of the tower below said dome beingadapted to carry an advertisement, an outwardly flared part on the towerlocated between the dome and the advertisement carrying portion, windowopenings in said outwardly flared part, and lights for illuminating thedome arranged so that rays from same will be visi-ble through saidwindow openings.

9. An advertising device, Consisting of a tower whose base portion isconstructed so that it will serve as a room or compartment, a dome atthe upper end of the tower whose exterior is colored to simulate fire,the portion ofthe tower below said dome having a light colored exteriorand being adapted to carry an advertisement, and means for projectingbeams of light onto said advertisement carrying portion and onto saiddome, o

thereby producing the effect of a brilliantly lighted object suspendedin mid air above an illuminated shaft of less brilliancy.

l0. An advertising device, consisting of a tall shaft-like structureprovided with an advertisement carrying portion and with a cap piece,said advertising portion having a light colored exterior and said cappiece having an exterior that is colored so as to simulate fire, andseparate and distinct means for projecting rays of light onto saidadvertise-

